You Can't Always Get What You Want
by Jadeey
Summary: A oneshot. Not your usual HouseCam story


_This is just a quick one-shot I had the idea for and couldn't resist writing. For those hoping for an update to I Thought Love Was Only True In Fairytales – I'm getting there but am suffering writers block on it at the moment. My interest in it is being renewed however and hopefully I'll have more for you soon. I promise it isn't abandoned!_

_But for now – enjoy!_

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You Can't Always Get What You Want**

"Fine! I'm leaving. It's over, you won't ever have to see me again."

Wilson glanced at Cuddy in concern when they heard those words screamed. The next sound had been of the door slamming. For the past hour there had been a lot of yelling coming from next door. It sounded like the argument had reached its climax.

"Remind me again why you thought it would be a good idea to live next-door to House and Cameron." Cuddy asked her husband with raised eyebrows.

Wilson just grimaced and looked towards the door.

"Do you think I should go and check on him?" He asked.

"Wait ten minutes. Cameron'll be back."

Wilson nodded. Hearing Cameron and House fighting was a regular occurrence. Since getting together two years ago they had argued regularly.

Wilson had only asked House about it once. He had received a grunt in response and then been told that it worked for them, that they enjoyed the fighting. Much to the oncologist's chagrin House had then proceeded to tell him that the make-up sex was out of this world, giving him a detailed description of exactly how they made up before Wilson managed to choke out an excuse and quickly leave. He had never tried to get House to talk about it again.

About ten minutes of silence followed from next-door; a relief after all the yelling. Then, there was a tentative knock at the Wilson door. Wilson got up and answered it. He was not surprised to find a tear-stained Cameron standing on the other side.

"Allison" was all he managed to get out before his wife made an appearance beside him, reaching for Cameron and bringing her inside.

Cameron looked a little bit bewildered, as though she didn't quite know what was going on.

"I'm sorry." She began as Cuddy sat her on their couch. "I was sitting outside for the past ten minutes. Gregg and I had a fight."

"Oh? What about?" Cuddy asked, as though she hadn't been able to hear the whole thing.

If Cameron didn't look so forlorn sitting there Wilson would have laughed at his wife's pathetic attempt to act like she hadn't known they were fighting.

"Just the same old stuff. Gregg pushing me away as usual. I was such an idiot to think he could actually be happy with me. It's just not working."

Cuddy pulled Cameron into a hug as she began to cry again, the two had become close over the last few years. Over Cameron's shoulder Cuddy met Wilson's eyes, concern written all over her face. Neither Wilson or Cuddy had ever seen Cameron look so defeated.

Cameron pulled away from Cuddy and looked to Wilson. "Can you help me move my stuff?" she asked.

"Move your stuff? To where?" Wilson asked stupidly.

"James!" Cuddy snapped. "You can stay here Allison, for as long as you need to."

"Thanks but I was thinking I would go and stay with Chase. I need to be a bit further away from Gregg than just across the hall. If I stay here I'll go back to him. I can't go back to him. Not this time." Cameron told them.

"It's really over?" Cuddy asked. She didn't know whether to be relieved that the volatile relationship that so hurt one of her friends was over or upset that the relationship that had made the other friend as close to happy as he'd ever get was over.

Cameron nodded resolutely. "It's really over. I can't do it anymore. It's too hard."

Cuddy and Wilson both nodded their understanding. They had seen Cameron struggle for the last two years to get through House's defenses. He loved her, no-one in the room doubted that, but he couldn't give her what she needed. He was too damaged, too selfish, too self-absorbed and she needed too much.

"Could I just keep some stuff here until I get settled?" Cameron asked. "I wouldn't put it past Gregg to break things or throw stuff out just to spite me."

"Of course." Cuddy replied, thinking that it wouldn't surprise her if he did that either. "Tell James what you want and he'll go over there and get it."

Cameron shook her head and stood up. "No. I'll come too. I don't want to leave anything behind. I don't want to have to come back. I'll just give Chase a call and check he's okay with me coming out and staying with him."

Cameron picked up the phone while Wilson headed next-door to check up on his best friend. He didn't bother knocking and was not surprised when the door opened to reveal House sitting at his piano, playing ferociously, his Vicodin bottle balanced on the top.

"I don't want to talk about it." House told Wilson, not even glancing his way.

"You never do." Wilson agreed.

House abruptly stopped playing and turned around on his piano stool so he was facing Wilson.

"It's over. She's not coming back." He said.

"I know. She told us."

"It's for the best. I don't know how I ever believed a sexy piece of ass like that would want to be with an old cripple." The derision aimed at himself was obvious in House's voice.

"If you'd just be a bit nicer to her" Wilson started.

"I don't do nice." House cut him off before he could finish. "She knew that. She wanted me to be someone I'm not."

A sigh came from the doorway and both men looked up in surprise to see Cameron standing there.

"I'm not going to fight about this again Gregg. I don't think you'll ever believe that I didn't need you to change. I just needed you to let me love you, at least a little bit." Cameron said softly.

"I let you love me. Every single night I let you love me. Sometimes more than once a night" House quipped, knowing even as he did so he was driving the nails into his own coffin. By making a joke he was proving to Cameron beyond a shadow of a doubt that he couldn't even let his guard down enough to save their relationship.

Cameron looked like she was going to cry again but visibly pulled herself together and, moving further into the room, she began to collect her stuff together.

House realised he had never loved her as much as he did in that moment. Ironic since the thing that made him love her so much was watching her be strong enough to leave him. He hadn't thought she had it in her. Usually he provoked her until she snapped and yelled at him. He'd yell back and they would argue for a bit until Cameron started to cry.

She always gave in first, always apologised to him even though it was always him that had started it. She had never asked from an apology for him, taking the tender way he made love to her after an argument as apology enough.

Not this time though, this time she held back both her tears and her apologies. He loved her for it even as he knew it spelled the end of their relationship forever. Not even the love he felt in his whole body right now was enough to make him lower himself to apologising. That just wasn't him.

Wilson stood by helplessly, occasionally taking a bag or box from Cameron and carrying it over to his apartment. He hated seeing the pain etched onto his best friend's face but could do nothing about it. He didn't know how to fix this, doubted it was possible to fix it. Sometimes love just wasn't enough and it looked like House and Cameron was one of those times.

House was silent and stoic as he watched Cameron walk out the door for what he knew would be the final time. She hung her key on the hook and turned to look at him, her hand already on the doorknob ready to pull the door closed behind her. For a long moment the two looked at each other, both reliving the pain and joy of their relationship It had mostly been pain but there had been the occasional moment of joy, the occasional moment when it seemed like maybe their relationship wasn't doomed after all.

"Goodbye Gregg" Cameron said. She walked out and closed the door without waiting to hear his reply.

"Goodbye Allison." There was a long pause before he spoke again.

"I'm sorry." The words whispered so quietly that even if she had still been in the room she would barely have been able to hear him.

fin


End file.
